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Building Blocks!

No... I'm not talking about LEGOs... I'm teaching about the building blocks of everything!

We started off learning about atoms, the building blocks of everything in the universe. We related atoms on the periodic table to letters in the alphabet; except instead of just 26, we have 118 different kinds of atoms, or elements. We can combine atoms to make molecules, just like letters can be combined to make words. Every grade became more familiar with the periodic table and even made a model of an atom. Stop by and see these giant atom models hanging in the hall! The students asked that I include a link to the Bill Nye video we watched in class. (Bill Nye, the Science Guy, is a sort of science teacher hero of mine :)

We've now moved on to cells, the building blocks of life. We learned that ALL living things are made of cells. (And in terms of atoms: cells masterpieces of atoms, like a giant chapter book is a masterpiece of letters.) We talked about how cells make tissues, tissues make organs, and organs made systems.. Then we looked at what makes up cells - the organelles - and how multicellular organisms and life exists only because each organelle has its own specific role. We related the roles of these organelles in a cell to different jobs and structures in a city. For this I showed some little video clips that students wanted to make sure they could watch again:

Next week we will use microscopes to create a cell museum with prepared cells and our own homemade slides!

We'll wrap up with Newton's Laws

Innovation Center

The Innovation Center is a comprehensive research and development center. It provides an environment tailored to aspiring student inventors, designers and entrepreneurs.